MPO teachers reject govt approval of 5% house rent, demand 20%
Highlights:
MPO-listed teachers and employees have rejected the government's official notification granting them 5% of their basic salary in house rent allowance, declaring the move insufficient and vowing to continue their eight-day-long agitation until their full demands are met.
The Ministry of Finance today (19 October) approved a house rent allowance set at 5% of the basic salary or a minimum of Tk2,000 for teachers who have been protesting, a decision the government said was made "considering the existing budgetary limitations".
However, Delwar Hossain Azizi, member secretary of the Alliance for Nationalisation of MPO Institutions, dismissed the notification as only a partial victory.
"The 5% house rent notification is merely an initial victory of our movement," Azizi stated. "But all our programmes will continue until the government issues notifications for a 20% house rent allowance, Tk1,500 medical allowance, and a 75% festival allowance for employees."
Around 3:30pm, teachers were seen marching from the Central Shaheed Minar towards the Shikkha Bhaban.
Law enforcement personnel have set up barricades on the road near the High Court Mazar area.
Meanwhile, a planned "hunger march" by the teachers, originally scheduled for 12:00pm today, has been postponed to 3:00pm. The delay is due to a scheduled meeting between the protesting teachers and BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.
The teachers' protests, which began with a continuous sit-in on 12 October and included a black flag march yesterday (18 October), where protestors also demanded the resignation of Education Adviser CR Abrar, chanting "CR Abrar, no longer needed".
The MPO-listed teachers and employees have been protesting on the streets of Dhaka, asserting they will not return to their workplaces until their demands are met.
Yesterday, on the seventh day of their ongoing protests, teachers and employees under the Monthly Payment Order (MPO) scheme from private educational institutions held a black flag march today (18 October), to press for their three core demands while also calling for the education adviser's resignation.
The march started at the Central Shaheed Minar, proceeded around Doel Chattar, and concluded with a brief rally at Kadam Fountain.
Protest leader Azizi had said that the number of teachers joining the indefinite strike is increasing every day, and the ongoing work stoppage at all private educational institutions will continue indefinitely.
In Bangladesh, MPO-listed teachers are educators employed at private schools and colleges that receive government funding through the Monthly Pay Order (MPO) system.
The 5% house rent notification is merely an initial victory of our movement
Under this system, their salaries are paid directly by the government. The Non-Government Teachers' Registration and Certification Authority (NTRCA) oversees their registration and certification.
The latest wave of protests began this month after the finance ministry approved raising the house rent allowance of MPO-listed school and college teachers and staff by Tk500.
Previously, they received Tk1,000 per month; the new rate is Tk1,500.
However, the education ministry had proposed a more substantial change: instead of a flat allowance, house rent should be a percentage of the basic salary, ranging from 5% to 20%, with a minimum of Tk2,000.
For context, there are nearly 4 lakh MPO-listed school and college teachers and staff in Bangladesh.
At the current rate, the government spends about Tk470 crore annually on house rent allowance, with Tk357 crore for school teachers and Tk112 crore for college teachers.
Other benefits have also been points of contention. Festival bonuses, previously set at 25% of the basic salary, have recently been raised to 50%, adding an estimated Tk229 crore in annual expenditure.
The teachers' demands
The Alliance for Nationalisation of Education, which is leading the protests, has outlined three key demands:
The alliance also supports NTRCA candidates who were dropped during the viva voce stage of the 18th NTRCA exam, demanding a review of results and immediate issuance of registration certificates.
Meanwhile, teachers argue that despite promises reportedly from Education Adviser CR Abrar, these benefits have not been officially gazetted. Hence, the ongoing protests are holding.